Author: Hayat Imam

EARTH AND WATER – Endangered!

May 6, 2026 Hayat Imam

We just celebrated Earth Day and paid tribute to our home, the beautiful planet that tenderly nurtures us. Our responsibility must be to continue the same love and concern for this earth, not just for a day but for the other 364 days as well, […]

The Cold War is Alive and Well in the Waters of the Caribbean

December 9, 2025 Hayat Imam

by Hayat Imam President Donald Trump’s provocative acts towards Venezuela and the attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea are against military and international law. As we struggle to make sense of actions that are being described as murder and war crimes, it may help […]

Indian frontier guard at checkpoint in Kashmir Himalayas, June 2015. Photo: OlegD/ Shutterstock

South Asia on Brink of War

May 7, 2025 Hayat Imam

by Hayat Imam An act of terrorism in Kashmir has triggered a crisis in South Asia that is extremely alarming: two nuclear armed countries, India and Pakistan, are in a dangerous face off. Yesterday, India attacked 9 sites in Pakistan. This tense situation in Kashmir […]

For Muslims in America, McCarthyism Is Already Here

April 24, 2024 Hayat Imam

by Hayat Imam Remarks presented at MAPA’s Annual Meeting, April 6, 2024 As a Muslim American, I am very worried about the deep losses to our civil rights that I can see coming – for all of us, but particularly for the Muslim community. Just […]

Pictured: A scenic view of Hawaiian nature. Photo by Claudy Boy, a friend of the author's, December 2022.

Maui is Speaking— and We Had Better Listen

September 26, 2023 Hayat Imam

By Hayat Imam Fear turned to relief when my friend’s son, a teacher in Maui, sent a Facebook message: he was safe. I was particularly distressed by this situation as I had known him since he was a little boy, but also because my friend […]

Freedom Monument in Baghdad, commissioned after the 1958 revolution by General Abd al-Karim Qasim and designed by architect Jawad Salim. Photo: Hammody.90/ Openverse

Reflections on the 2003 US Invasion of Iraq

March 18, 2023 Hayat Imam

by Hayat Imam At the 2004 White House Correspondents Ball, President George W. Bush mimed a massive search for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), looking under tables and chairs and muttering to himself: “The WMD have got to be here somewhere…” The audience dutifully laughed, […]

Justice for Faisal protest, Somerville High School, Jan. 29, 2023 (Cole Harrison/MAPA photo)

On the Killing of Arif Sayad Faisal

January 29, 2023 Hayat Imam

by Hayat Imam As a Bangladeshi American, I am still reeling from this tragedy in our community. The officer involved shooting death of a young man of 20 will have irreparable consequences. His parents, who took the chance to emigrate to the USA just a […]